im selling my Nikkor 55-200mm VR Lens, since i dont use it often, for the fact that im more into portrait and fashion photography, and i dont need much of a zoom... so here it goes.. what do you think would be a best buy?
50mm f/1.8 (coz it's a lot cheaper than the f/1.4)
or
35mm f/1.4 which is double the price of the prior...
my main concern here is what's more useful in,like, events (e.g weddings and the like)
since in studio shoots, my kit lens is doing the job pretty well...
i cant afford other lenses except for this 2 which has a good aperture reach..
It depends on your camera body, if your using full frame then 50mm should be good enough but if your using Crop sensor body, then the 35mm f1.4 will be equivalent to 50 - 55mm but for 50mm f1.8 will be equivalent to 80mm(tele). And believe me the f1.8 and f1.4 is a lot difference on indoor shooting specially on dimmed lights events. Im using Nikon I have 50mm f1.8 and Sigma 35mm f1.4 and I end up selling the 50mm f1.8 because the 35mm focus faster, more sharper and has faster aperture.
If your using full frame you can also look into Nikon 50mm f1.4 which has same price as 35mm f1.4.
The Nikon 50mm f 1.8 will not auto focus on your body since your body do not have a built in motor. The Sigma 35mm f1.4 has built in motor so it will Auto Focus.
Then you can also look into Nikon 35mm f1.8 which is also same price as sigma 35mm f1.4 and has built in motor. But for me Sigma 35mm f1.4 is still a better choice.
You should look for AFS lenses with built in motors, the AFD lenses will not Auto focus on your body.
i have tried 35mm on my body, borrowed from my bestfriend.... and yeah it automatically focuses.... ermm my bestfriend's selling me his 35mm and he slashed off 50% of the original price... i kinda consider buying that one.. since it's good as new.... =)
i think imma go with 35mm and if it didn't work buy 50mm hahahha
@maceugenio One thing about Sigma lenses is its more prone to back or front focus issues, for this case, you just send it for calibration on sigma service center, its free if its still under warranty.
I got this issue on my Sigma 35mm, after calibration its one of my sharpest lens.
@maceugenio i'm using the nikkor 35mm f/1.8 on my d3000 (it AFs) and it stays there 99% of the time. it fares well in not-so-dark areas and surprisingly good for landscapes too. my problem with the lens is it seems too wide for portraits (and the obvious barrel distorion bothers). i found an old 50mm f/1.8, which I manually focus for some portrait and 'experimental' shots, and I find that these 2 lenses are all i need most of the time.
I use my 50mm all the time, but feel that it's a little tight indoors. Considering the 1.5 crop factor on my D90 I think I might have been better off with the 35mm.
@maceugenio on a full frame camera yes, but it equates to about 52mm on a cropped camera, which should have a 'normal' length, but i guess i'm just nitpicking. it's a good lens, but it think your future 35 f/1.4 will be much better. :)
@maceugenio high end cameras by nikon like D700, D3, D3x and D3S are full frame cameras (sensors are about as big as a 35mm film's frame hence the name) and the other cameras from D300s, D7000 and below (the category where our cameras belong lol) are cropped sensors (APS-C or DX format). :)
@nellycious MY GOSH!!!! thank u!!!!! hahahha now i know.... now i think next stop after buying the lenses i need is a full framed dslr.... i'll go for d7000! hahaha well that'd be, i guess, in a decade hihihihihi THANK U VERY MUCH ARNEL!!!!!!!
@maceugenio and @vikdaddy have excellent advice. The 50mm focal length has been a classic for an eternity because it's a close representation of what the human eye sees, but the problem is the 50mm trend has carried over into digital photography where most people are shooting with a crop body, thus making the classic lens much too long than what it was intended for.
I shoot Canon and not Nikon, but that's why I opted for the 28mm even over the 35mm because at a 1.6 crop it's like shooting 45mm, which is pretty close to my 50mm target. Being it's used indoors much of the time I'd MUCH rather have a wider FOV than a narrower one. You can often only back up so far before hitting a wall or other obstacle when indoors, so I'd rather shoot a little wider, or crop a little tighter than not be able to get the shot at all.
@marubozo Thanks - I will replace my 50mm with one of those two one day. Is the 28mm a good lens to have? Because I am not sure which to go for; the 28mm or the 35mm.
@vikdaddy Oh, it's a great lens. It's on my camera about 90% of the time. It's very sharp. The 35mm is good, too, but you're stuck with the 35mm f/2 non-USM lens if you're looking in the same budget range. To get a faster 35mm with USM I think the only option is the 1.4L model which will run you over a grand! I bought my 28 f/1.8 used for around $350. It focuses in a fraction of a second and hasn't let me down yet.
Let's face it. You always want what you don't have. I have a 35mm 1.8 and a NikonD5000 and I absolutely love it. But there are times when I wish it was tighter for family functions in low light (weddings etc...). Around the house it's perfect because I can use it in any room because it has a 1ft minimum focus distance which allows me to get pretty close to whatever I am photographing (my son usually). If you are using it for portraits, your models have to be comfortable with you getting right in their face because you need to get pretty close for a head shot. Obviously the 1.8 is different than the 1.4 in terms of light availability but the 35mm range is pretty nice and versatile.
Not to throw you another wrench in the equation, but a lot of portrait and fashion guys swear by the 85mm 1.8. However that depends on your space. The 85mm will be tough to use in a small room or somewhere where space is limited.
If you look at my profile, that picture of my son was taken with my 35mm and I was about 3 feet away from him. If you also look at my flickr page, all the pictures of my son are shot with the 35mm only using natural light from my windows/doors in my house. I'm sure the 1.4 would be even better.
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If your using full frame you can also look into Nikon 50mm f1.4 which has same price as 35mm f1.4.
thanks by the way for the reply!
Then you can also look into Nikon 35mm f1.8 which is also same price as sigma 35mm f1.4 and has built in motor. But for me Sigma 35mm f1.4 is still a better choice.
You should look for AFS lenses with built in motors, the AFD lenses will not Auto focus on your body.
i think imma go with 35mm and if it didn't work buy 50mm hahahha
thanks for the help!!!! =) @vikdaddy @ericmabalot
I got this issue on my Sigma 35mm, after calibration its one of my sharpest lens.
@nellycious well basically, maybe because 35mm is a wide angle lens...
here is a size comparison of the popular sensor sizes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sensor_sizes_overlaid_inside.svg
I shoot Canon and not Nikon, but that's why I opted for the 28mm even over the 35mm because at a 1.6 crop it's like shooting 45mm, which is pretty close to my 50mm target. Being it's used indoors much of the time I'd MUCH rather have a wider FOV than a narrower one. You can often only back up so far before hitting a wall or other obstacle when indoors, so I'd rather shoot a little wider, or crop a little tighter than not be able to get the shot at all.
Most of the pics in my project were shot with that lens, and if you want to see even more examples, there's a whole archive of images at: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=157746
Not to throw you another wrench in the equation, but a lot of portrait and fashion guys swear by the 85mm 1.8. However that depends on your space. The 85mm will be tough to use in a small room or somewhere where space is limited.
If you look at my profile, that picture of my son was taken with my 35mm and I was about 3 feet away from him. If you also look at my flickr page, all the pictures of my son are shot with the 35mm only using natural light from my windows/doors in my house. I'm sure the 1.4 would be even better.
@viranod hahhha i think so!!! =)